Onyx Beads
Black onyx beads are solid black chalcedony, a fine-grained quartz, and they are among the most widely used dark beads in jewelry. Banded onyx is black and white; the uniform black sold as onyx is solid black chalcedony. This collection holds black onyx in a range of finishes and shapes for bracelets, necklaces and earrings.
Appearance
The color is an even, opaque black from bead to bead. Polished beads reflect like a dark mirror and show a faint translucency at thin edges under strong light. A matte finish turns the same bead into a flat charcoal black that reads as soft and modern, and matte faceted beads add a geometric texture without shine. Faceted polished beads flash white highlights off each facet. At 6.5 to 7 on the Mohs scale, onyx is hard enough for daily wear and unaffected by water or lotion.
Formation and origin
Onyx is chalcedony that formed in layers as silica-rich water filled cavities in volcanic rock, the same process that makes agate. Strictly, onyx has straight parallel bands in black and white, sardonyx has the same bands in red-brown and white, and bead onyx comes mostly from Brazil, India and Uruguay.
Pairings
Hematite beads: metallic gray spacers beside black onyx, a standard combination for men's bracelets.
Howlite beads: white with gray veins, the usual light partner for black and white designs.
Clear quartz beads: transparent beads make onyx read darker, and both are quartz of the same hardness.
Meaning and Metaphysical Beliefs
Onyx has long been carved into cameos and seals, its black and white layers letting Roman engravers cut a pale figure against a dark ground. Medieval writers both feared it and prized it as a guard against the evil eye. In modern crystal traditions black onyx is associated with strength, self-control and protection, and it is placed with the root chakra. These are traditional beliefs, not claims of physical effect.
